Overview

• Certain Elysia sea slugs sequester chloroplasts from algae within specialized gut organelles dubbed kleptosomes
• Chemical analyses show these stolen chloroplasts continue photosynthesis and synthesize algal proteins over extended periods
• Researchers found slug-derived proteins inside the chloroplasts, indicating the host actively maintains the stolen organelles
• Kleptosomes harbor ion channels such as P2X4 that respond to ATP generated during photosynthesis
• Scientists believe this kleptoplastic mechanism could shed light on how ancient symbioses gave rise to organelles like mitochondria